Just got a set of used Kenko DG extension tubes to try my hand at Macro. A very cooperative Blow Fly was resting on a nearby lampshade. So I pop on the the 36 and 12mm tubes with my 85/1.8, mount my 580EX with Lumiquest pocket bounce on the hot shoe and decide to try a photo.
This is when I discovered my 70D wouldn't autofocus unless in LiveView. I spent about 15 minutes trying different lenses, with and without the tubes, resetting camera settings and custom functions, and could not get the camera to focus. Meanwhile, the fly sat by patiently waiting -- I don't think I've ever had a more cooperative subject. Not being able to fix the autofocus problem I just set the camera for manual focus and moved it back and forth until I got it right. The texture of the lampshade made this bit fairly easy. Managed to capture this photo, which was in JPEG instead of RAW, so I'm not sure if noise reduction caused a loss of detail in the eye or if I'm exceeding the limits of the 85/1.8:
First Macro - Blow Fly (1 of 1).jpg by Mark, on FlickrThat's about a 20% crop from the full frame. I need to work on lighting a bit, and the background is certainly unattractive. Overall I'm pleased with my first macro and find the working distance with the 85 is comfortable (certainly my subject did not complain; he continued to sit there for another 30 minutes). C&C is very welcome.
Oh, and eventually I was able to get autofocus working again. But even so it appears to be of limited benefit with macro.
